For the purpose of relaxing various symptoms such as menstrual pain, there have hitherto been used warm patch materials which upon sticking onto an affected part, expand a blood vessel to increase a blood flow, raise the temperature of the affected part and promote metabolism. Such a patch material is composed of a support and a sticky ointment layer containing a drug. With respect to an ejector of a drug, only a function for penetrating the drug into an affected part is emphasized. Accordingly, for the purposes of making the presence thereof thin during sticking to the skin, improving a sticking feeling to the skin and making it hard to be peeled away from the skin, a material which is flexible and stretchable is selected as the support.
Furthermore, examples of a heating pad include electrically heating pads and heat generating bodies utilizing an oxidation reaction of iron.
Heat generating compositions utilizing an oxidation reaction of a metal such as iron have been provided as a powder or granule, or a viscous material or creamy material. Heat generating bodies utilizing such a heat generating composition are very excellent in view of costs, safety, exothermic temperature, and so on and are already put into practical use as, for example, a so-called chemical body warmer as filled in an air-permeable bag.
In order to obtain a more comfortable feeling for use, there have been proposed various heat generating compositions which design to have shape holding properties and to hold exothermic characteristics while using a thickener, a binding agent, etc. in quest of prevention of deviation of a heat generating composition and fitness to various kinds of shapes.
For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a process for producing a heat generating composition as granulated so as to have an average particle size of 0.5 mm or more and a process for producing a heat generating composition having an improved granular strength by blending from 10 to 20 parts by weight of an adhesive binder component in addition water and granulating.
Also, Patent Document 2 proposes a throwaway body warmer composed of a heat generating composition having shape holding characteristics by adding a powdered thickener such as corn starch and potato starch.
Also, Patent Document 3 proposes a solid heat generating composition as prepared by mixing a binding agent such as CMC in a powdered or granular heat generating composition and compression molding the mixture.
Also, Patent Document 4 proposes a heat generating body as prepared by using a crosslinking agent, etc. and a water absorptive polymer and integrating them under pressure.
Also, Patent Document 5 proposes a heat generating composition in an ink form and/or a creamy form using a thickener so as to have viscosity, a heat generating body and a process for producing the same.
Also, Patent Document 6 proposes a heat generating composition molded body using a binding agent, the surface of which is covered by an air-permeable film material such as CMC, thereby designing to hold the shape.
Also, Patent Document 7 and Patent Document 8 each proposes a heat generating composition as processed into a viscous material or a creamy material, in which the shape is changed from a conventional rectangle to a foot shape or an elliptical shape so as to adapt to the outline of a body to be warmed.
Also, Patent Document 9 and Patent Document 10 each discloses a heat generating body in which a powdered heat generating composition is filled in sectioned divisions and which is made of plural exothermic parts as divided by a seal part.
Also, Patent Document 11, Patent Document 12, Patent Document 13, Patent Document 14, Patent Document 15 and Patent Document 16 each proposes a heat generating composition using a flocculant and a dry binding agent and a heat generating body in which a heat generating composition exothermic part is sectioned into plural divisions by using a substrate having an accommodating pocket.
Also, it is said that a symptom of menstrual pain is caused when a direct stimulus in the affected part or an indirect stimulus which has passed from the central nerve through the peripheral nerve due to a mental stimulus causes tension of a muscle or tendon, whereby vital energy and blood stay in the affected part. Accordingly, in order to relax a symptom of menstrual pain, it is said that it is effective to relieve the tension of a muscle or tendon which hinders the flow of vital energy and blood.
Also, in order to relax a symptom of poor circulation, it is said that it is effective to warm an area beneath the navel.
In order to dissolve the foregoing problems, there has been proposed an electrically heating pad. Though the electrically heating pad is excellent in adjusting capability of the temperature for compensating clothes of a user, the device becomes large in size and complicated so that it is problematic in portable use.
Also, in conventional heat generating bodies utilizing an oxidation reaction of iron, an exothermic part is large so that warming along the muscular or tendon direction was not obtainable.
Also, in a heat generating body utilizing an oxidation reaction of iron and provided with an opening as an oxygen-permeable measure, a chemical substance for heat generation which is a heat generating composition uses a flocculant aid, a flocculant, a dry binding agent, an agglomeration aid, and the like and is compressed and shaped, whereby the chemical substance for heat generation is prevented from leakage from the opening by perforation. The exothermic performance of the chemical substance for heat generation becomes worse thereby, and therefore, the heat generation body which withstands for practical use becomes inevitably large in size.
Also, in the case of using a chemical substance for heat generation which does not contain a flocculant aid, a flocculant, a dry binding agent, an agglomeration aid, and the like, it is necessary to previously prepare an accommodating pocket in an accommodating packaging material. In cells for heat generation and heat generating bodies having cells for heat generation embedded therein, there was involved a problem that their production becomes complicated.    [Patent Document 1] JP-A-4-293989    [Patent Document 2] JP-A-6-343658    [Patent Document 3] JP-A-59-189183    [Patent Document 4] WO 00/13626    [Patent Document 5] JP-A-9-75388    [Patent Document 6] JP-A-60-101448    [Patent Document 7] JP-A-9-276317    [Patent Document 8] JP-A-11-299817    [Patent Document 9] JP-A-1-110718    [Patent Document 10] JP-UM-A-6-26829    [Patent Document 11] JP-A-2000-288008    [Patent Document 12] JP-T-11-507593    [Patent Document 13] JP-T-11-508314    [Patent Document 14] JP-T-11-508786    [Patent Document 15] JP-T-11-512954    [Patent Document 16] JP-T-2002-514104